


Minutes to Midnight

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Series: Supernatural/Batman fusions. [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Dick and the others go to try to break Dick’s demon deal at the last moment, Jason is left watching Damian. They wait for the news if Dick made it or not. Follows Fools Begot Fools</p>
            </blockquote>





	Minutes to Midnight

Jason Todd was not cut out for babysitting.

            He knew from experience. Once during his “post death, pre demon caused sanity” days he had taken on a kid hunter he had found in Boston trying to gank a vampire and failing at it. Her name was Sasha and it took a week for Jason to realize that he wasn’t cut out for the gig, at least while he was still screwed in the head. He had improved since then, the whole “supernaturally caused break in sanity” incident was something he had put far behind him, but that didn’t mean he had become “Jason Todd: Expert Child Rearer.” In fact, he was probably last on Dick’s speed dial when it came to watching over Damian.

             But Goldie was running from a demon deal that was ticking down to the last hour. Tim, Cass, Steph, Barbara and Alfred were all providing back up in a desperate attempt to save Dick from his fate. Someone had to make sure Damian didn’t follow them; Jason was the only choice left given his recently a sprained ankle.

            “I should be out there providing assistance,” Damian said, throwing another knife into one of the targets across the room. They were in the hidden area under Alfred’s house, the Batcave as he called it, in the small part of the room that had a collection of weapons and paper targets. The knife sailed right into the center of the silhouette’s chest and Jason let out a low whistle.

             “Nice shot, kid.” Damian didn’t look at him, reaching for another knife from the pile he had placed on the weapons’ rack.

            “Grayson needs my help. I am the reason he is in this situation in the first place.” He threw another knife, this one landing a bit off center. Damian cursed in Arabic, stomping his foot into the ground and Jason took notice of the slight shake in his hands.

             “The reason Goldie is in this situation is because he chose to be in it,” Jason said, leaning forward in the recliner he was sitting in. It was the wrong thing to say; Damian glared at him, reaching for another knife. Jason held up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m not saying it’s his fault; Dick doesn’t deserve all this shit. I’m just saying that it isn’t your fault either. “

            Damian didn’t let up his glare, but he did lower the knife back onto the stand. He leaned against one of the walls, glancing at the clock across the room. “It is a few minutes till Midnight. We should hear from them soon.”

            Jason reached into his pocket, pulling out his current burn phone. “Got it covered. As soon as Dick’s bacon is saved, we’ll know. And then we can all prep ourselves for the inevitable touching family moment when they get back. “

            Damian smirked. “He’s going to try to hug us all, isn’t he?”

            “There may be some weeping on Replacement’s part. And we all know he’s a hideous crier. It should be the event of the year.”

            “Drake never ceases to amuse.” Damian tipped his head back, looking up at the ceiling tiles. Jason watched as Damian tapped his leg, closing his eyes for a moment before whispering a few words under his breath. Jason looked down at his hands, sweat slicked and clenched into fists. He forced in a breath, calming his body down and took a look at his cellphone. There were no new calls.

            It was now five minutes to Midnight.

             “They’re taking their damn sweet time, aren’t they?” Jason said, shaking his head. “Probably killed the bastard holding the strings an hour ago and then ditched us all for waffles.” Damian didn’t move, still staring up at the ceiling. Jason tilted his head, moving up in his seat so he was sitting on the edge of the chair. “You know he’s going to be alright. He’s Dick “everyone and their cat loves me” Grayson. I would stop smoking before he ever went to hell.”

            Damian opened his eyes, lowering his gaze at the clock. “They’re facing impossible odds. A signed demon deal; Grayson’s soul for my life.”

            “Which is why I’m here protecting your ass by the way.” Damian didn’t acknowledge him.

            “I’ve never heard of anyone beating such a deal. Even Father…” He trailed off, looking at Jason with probing eyes. Somehow he looked more childish, like an actual thirteen year old kid instead of a hardened solider.  “Is this how it felt when he did the same for you?”

            Jason visibly flinched, gritting his teeth.  The memories flooded back, his miracle recovery in a dingy hospital room, Bruce’s pained smile, the sound of Tim screaming for a medic two minutes later. He looked down at the watch around his wrist, Bruce’s, and rubbed his thumb over the dial.“I didn’t know he made the deal until a few minutes before he was dead.”

            Damian still stared. “You still knew.” Damn, the kid could be detached if he really wanted to. It reminded him of Bruce. He ignored the pang in his stomach and took a deep breath.

            “If you mean guilty as hell, then yeah. Doesn’t mean it’s your fault though.”

             “But it will never stop feeling like it?” Jason looked down at his hands. They were shaking.

            “Yes.” There was a beat of silence between the two brothers, both of them staring off into space. The clock shifted its hands to midnight. Damian cleared his throat.

             “Father wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. It was his choice even if it was monumentally stupid. To him you were worth the sacrifice.”

            Jason looked up at Damian. He was looking down at the floor now, his face a tad red, and with a jolt of shock, Jason realized he meant that as a compliment. Jason smiled and for once it didn’t feel nearly as forced as it had been these last few weeks.

            “Don’t think I’m so worthless now, huh?”

            Damian frowned but there was no true malice in it. “Dream on, Todd.” The kid reached once again for his knives, throwing them back into the target with true accuracy. Jason sat back and for a small moment, smiled.

            Then, as if to shatter the silence completely, the phone rang.

            Damian paused in mid throw, the knife clattering to the ground. Jason stood up, fumbling through his pockets before pulling out the cell. He flipped it open, not even bothering to check the caller I.D.

             “Jason Todd. Is he good?”

            There was a long pause that felt like ages. At last a voice, Stephanie’s, came through the line.

             “We were so close. So close. But they got us trapped and….and….” Her broken voice told Jason all the story he needed to know before she spoke the actual words. “We failed. Dick’s dead. Dick’s in hell and we failed-“ she broke off, sobbing on the other end of the line. Jason clutched the phone tighter, feeling the blood drain from his face.

            Goldie was gone.

            Damian could see it too. It must have been written all over Jason’s face. His face grew a deadly pale and he took a step back shaking his head. “No.” Another step. “Todd, please tell me.” Jason shook his head. A stream of soft no’s came from the other boy, and he backed up all the way into the weapon’s rack, causing it to clash to the floor. Dick’s escrima sticks fell by his feet, landing on his shoes. Damian reached down, picking them up like they were fragile.

            Stephanie was still blathering in Jason’s ear about coming back, about burying him, about what went wrong, but Jason was hearing none of it. He had two options; fall to pieces about something he had no fucking control over, or to do something productive. He chose productivity.

            Jason put down the phone on the chair, stepping forward towards Damian. It took some effort with the ankle, but he made it over to the spot where the kid was soon enough. He knelt down, trying to keep his body posture like Dick’s, and put his hand on the kid’s shoulder. Damian stiffened for a long moment, blinked back his tears before throwing his arms around Jason’s neck, sobbing softly. Jason held him tight, trying to keep from breaking down himself. No, he wasn’t the best babysitter. But the best one was gone.

            Jason was just going to have to deal with being second place. After all, he had done it before.  

               

 

 


End file.
